Structural assembly and method of assembly thereof

ABSTRACT

Assemblies comprising first and second assembly members attached to one another via a connection arrangement and methods for forming such assemblies.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/202,528 filed Jul. 5, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/848,117 filed Sep. 8, 2015, which is acontinuation-in-part of PCT Patent Application No. PCT/IL2014/050595,filed on Jul. 2, 2014, which claims the priority benefit under 35 U.S.C.§ 119 of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/871,475 filed Aug. 29,2013, the contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by referencein their entireties.

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to structural assemblies and method ofassembly thereof, in particular, cardboard structures used for humanpowered vehicles.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides an assembly or structure (to be referredto herein jointly, as “assembly”) that comprises at least one firstassembly member and at least one second assembly member, at least onefirst and at least one second assembly member constituting together anassembly pair that are attached to one another via a connectionarrangement. Typically, at least one, and often both, of the twoassembly members are made out of cardboard or comprise cardboard astheir main component (i.e. at least 50%, at times at least 60%, 70%, 80%or even 90% of their weight is constituted by cardboard).

In an assembly of this disclosure, the different assembly pairs may bethe same or may be different. For example, there may be one or moreassembly pairs of one configuration, one or more assembly pairs ofanother configuration, etc. In addition, one or both of the assemblymembers of one assembly pair may be connected to one or more otherassembly members and thus form part also of one or more other assemblypairs. For example, an elongated assembly member may be combined withanother assembly member to form one assembly pair at its one end andconnected to another assembly member to form another assembly pair atits other end. In addition, such an assembly member may also beconnected at a mid-portion thereof to a further assembly member to forma third assembly pair. Thus, by this example, an assembly member mayform together with three other members, three assembly pairs.

In this disclosure a distinction is also made between a “first assemblymember” and a “second assembly member”, the two being different from oneanother in the role they play in formation of the assembly pair and thenature of their engagement with the elongated connector elements thatare defined below. It should be noted that this “first” and “second”definitions and the distinction between the two is made for reasonsconvenience and ease of reference within the context of this disclosure;but it does not confer any hierarchy of importance or assembly. Itshould further be noted that in the assembly of this disclosure, anassembly member that is a first assembly member in one assembly pair mayserve the role of a second assembly member in another pair.

The connection arrangement of the assembly comprises one or more firstelongated connector elements and one or more second connector elements.The first connector elements are each configured to project from a faceof the first assembly member and to define a first axis extending awayfrom said face. The axes of one or more first connector elements aresubstantially parallel to one another.

Each of said first connector elements has also at least one recessextending along a second axis that is normal to the first axis. In theassembly, the first connector elements are received within the secondassembly member, and through their engagement with the second connectorelements they are locked in position, such that detachment between thefirst assembly member and the second assembly member is blocked. Forsuch engagement, the second connector element is inserted into thesecond assembly member, along one of the second axes, and is therebyreceived within at least one of the recesses formed in the firstconnector elements. Upon such reception, the second connector elementengages the first connector element, locking it in position and therebyblocking detachment, as explained above.

By another aspect, the disclosure provides a method for assembly of afirst assembly member to a second assembly member. For such assembly,the first assembly member is fitted with one or more elongated connectorelements, each of which (i) extends along a first axis, (ii) has one ormore recesses that extends along a second axis normal to the first axis,and (iii) projects from a face of said first assembly member, along saidfirst axis.

Where there are more than one first connector element, all the firstaxes are parallel to one another. For assembly, the two assembly membersare brought into proximity and the first connector element is insertedinto the second assembly member, typically fitted into a pre-formedfirst bore in the second assembly member. Then one or more secondconnector elements are inserted into the second assembly member alongsaid second axis, typically fitted into a pre-formed second bore in thesecond assembly member, to thereby be received within one or morecorresponding recesses of the first connector element. This causeslocking of the first connector element in position and preventsdetachment between the two assembly members. Said connector elements maybe further secured in position by use of adhesive or any other means.

While, as noted above, the first and second connector elements aretypically received within respective first and second bores pre-formedin the second assembly member, it is also conceivable, in accordancewith this disclosure, that the bores that accommodate the first andsecond connector elements are formed during the assembly process. Forthis purpose, the connector elements may be configured for forming suchbores; for example, they have each a tapered end, whereby forcing ofconnector elements into the second assembly member will cause the boreto be formed, in the same manner as a nail that is being hammered into asubstrate.

The first connector element may be a stand-alone element that iscombined with the first assembly member prior to assembly; e.g. having ahead and a shaft and received in a pre-formed bore in the first assemblymember with a seat at the base, the shaft passing through the bore andthe head being accommodate within the seat. Alternatively, the firstconnector element(s) may be integrally formed or pre-fixed or may betightly associated with the first assembly member.

The assembly typically comprises two or more first connector elements,each of which is engaged with two or more second connector elements. Theconnector elements may be arranged in pairs, each pair engaged with thesame two or more second connector elements. The assembly will, in manycases, comprise two or more pairs of first connector elements havingfirst axes that are parallel to one another, as already explained above.

By one embodiment, the second assembly member is a generally elongatedmember with two end portions, and the first connector elements arereceived within the second assembly member through one of its two endportions. The second connector elements typically extend between twoparallel faces of such second assembly member.

As can be appreciated, for best engagement, the shape of the recess willtypically, although not exclusively, correspond in shape and size to thecross-sectional shape of the second connector element received therein.

It should be noted that, at times, the dimensions (length and diameter,as well as the cross-sectional shape) of different first connectorelements may be different to one another; and similarly, also the secondconnector elements may have different dimensions (length, diameterand/or cross-sectional shape). Typically, albeit not exclusively, theconnector elements have a circular cross-section.

The connection arrangement of the assembly described herein, is suitableparticularly for use in an assembly pair where at least one and usuallyboth of its first and second assembly members are made of cardboard. Oneexample for such a connector element is its use in construction of abicycle, particularly cardboard bicycles of the kind disclosed in PCTpublication numbers WO 2011/067742, WO 2014/061012, WO 2014/141228, WO2014/178038, and co-owned (yet to publish) PCT applicationPCT/IL2014/104701. For example, the connection assembly of the presentdisclosure may be utilized for connecting a head tube of a bicycle withthe frame of the bicycle.

The connector elements may be made from a variety of materials, such aswood, plastic or cardboard.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to better understand the invention as disclosed herein and toexemplify how it may be carried out in practice, embodiments will now bedescribed, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic isometric view of a bicycle comprising theassembly of the subject matter of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic isometric view of certain elements of the assemblyshown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is a schematic enlarged view of detail A shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic isometric view of the base frame; and

FIGS. 5 to 7 are schematic isometric view of detail A shown in FIG. 3,with some of the components gradually stripped away for a clearerpresentation of the assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

As noted above, the connection arrangement of this disclosure may beused to form various assemblies; one, non-limiting example being a frameof a cardboard bicycle, in which case the assembly pair is constitutedby two structural members of the bicycle.

Attention is first drawn to FIG. 1 in which a bicycle is shown,generally designated 1, and comprising a base frame 20, a handlebar 60and head tube 10 articulated to the base frame 20 by the assembly of thepresent disclosure and constitute together an assembly pair. The headtube 10 is configured for receiving therethrough a shaft of thehandlebar 60 to allow it to pivot in order to steer the bicycle 1. Thehead tube 10 and the frame 20, as will be clear from the descriptionbelow, are connected to one another by means of a connecting arrangementaccording to this disclosure and serving the respective roles of the“first assembly member” and the “second assembly member”.

As previously described in co-owned WO 2011/067742 and (yet to publish)PCT application PCT/IL2014/104701, bicycles can be made mainly ofcardboard, and the above assembly can be particularly useful for such atype of bicycles. The frame elements may of the kind disclosed inApplicant's PCT applications WO 2014/061012, WO 2014/141228, and WO2014/178038. However, it is appreciated that this type of assembly isnot limited to cardboard bicycles and can similarly be applied in otherconstructions.

With particular reference being made to FIGS. 2 to 7, the head tube 10comprises a hollow tube 12 which extends along a longitudinal axis X₁which is generally of vertical orientation when the bicycle ispositioned on a reference surface such as the ground, the cavity 17(better seen in FIG. 6) of the tube being configured for receivingtherein the handlebar shaft.

In this specific example, as can be better seen in FIG. 4, the baseframe 20 constitutes the second assembly member. The front frame portion26 comprises a first set of pre-formed first bores 27 configured forreceiving therein a corresponding segment of the first connectorelements 34, and a second set of pre-formed bores 28 configured forreceiving therein the second connector elements 32, as will be describedbelow.

It is noted that the first bores 27 extend generally parallel to a planedefined by the base frame 20 while the second bores 28 extendperpendicular to this plane and pass through the front frame portion 26.

Reverting now to FIGS. 5 to 7, in assembly, the head tube 10,constituting the first assembly member, is provided with a plurality of(in this case four) first connector elements 34, which are fitted to bepartially received within the hollow tube 12 and protrude therefrom in adirection generally perpendicular to the main axis X_(i). Each of thefirst connector elements 34 has a longitudinal axis Xa and comprises twospaced apart recesses 36, which extend parallel to an axis Xb, which isnormal to axis Xa.

The first connector elements 34 are configured for engagement with aplurality (e.g. four) of second connector elements 32 (shown FIG. 6) viarecesses 36. The recesses 36 have a circular cross-section, and areconfigured to be complimentary to the cross-section of the secondconnector elements 32 which should be received therein.

It is noted that while the connector elements 32, 34 described above areshown to have a circular cross-section, this is not compulsory andconnector elements of other cross-sections (e.g. triangular,rectangular, oval etc.) can be contemplated. It should also beappreciated that the cross-sectional shape the connector elements candiffer from one connector element to the other, although typically thecross-sectional shape of the recesses is designed to be complimentary tothe cross-sectional shape of that of the second connector element withwhich it is engaged.

For assembly, the head tube 10 (i.e. the first assembly member) togetherwith the first connector elements 34 extending perpendicular from a faceof the head tube, is brought into proximity with the base frame 20 (i.e.the second assembly member). The first connector elements 34 areinserted into the first pre-formed bores 27 until the recesses 36 arealigned with the second pre-formed bores 28 that extend along axis Xb.In this position, the second connector elements 32 can be inserted intothe second bores 28 in the Xb direction, passing through the front frameportion 26.

Once inserted, a portion of each of the second connector elements 32 isreceived within the recesses 36 of the first connecting element 34,thereby preventing extraction of the first connector elements 34 fromthe front frame portion 26 along the longitudinal axis Xa, andconsequently, preventing detachment between the head tube 10 and thebase frame 20.

In order to reinforce the connection between the base frame 20 and thehead tube 10, an optional auxiliary connecting member 50 is providedembracing both the head tube 10 and a part of the front frame portion26, completely covering the second bores 28, thereby preventing thesecond connector elements 32 from being extracted from the front frameportion 26. The auxiliary connecting member 50 can be attached to thehead tube 10 and base frame 20 by any known way, e.g. by an adhesive.

It is appreciated that the principles of the above-described connectingarrangement between the head tube 10 and the base frame 20 may beapplied for connecting of frame elements one to the other or instructures or assemblies other than a bicycle of the kind describedherein.

Those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains will readilyappreciate that numerous changes, variations, and modifications can bemade without departing from the scope of the invention, mutatismutandis.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for assembling a first cardboardassembly member to a second cardboard assembly member, the methodcomprising: providing a first cardboard assembly member having two ormore pairs of first, elongated connector elements fixed thereto orintegral therewith, wherein each of the first connector elements:extending along a first axis, all first axes of the connector elementsbeing parallel to one another, having one or more recesses extendingalong a second axis normal to the first axis, each recess in one of apair of first connector elements being aligned with a recess in theother of said pair, projecting from a face of said first assemblymember, and being made of wood, cardboard or plastic; inserting thefirst connector elements into the second cardboard assembly member; andinserting a plurality of second connector elements, each being made ofwood, cardboard or plastic, into the second assembly member along saidsecond axis so as to be received within a corresponding pair of alignedrecesses of a pair of the first connector elements to thereby lock thefirst connector element in position and prevent detachment between thefirst assembly member and the second assembly member.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first and second connector elements are fitted intocorresponding pre-formed first and second bores in the second assemblymember.